WBA’s brands enter Chinese consumer market,
exclusively through Alibaba Group’s Tmall Global
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (Nasdaq: WBA) and Alibaba Group
Holding Ltd. (“Alibaba”) (NYSE: BABA) today announced the launch of
a Boots flagship store on Tmall Global, Alibaba’s B2C platform for
international brands and retailers, to introduce a number of iconic
Boots beauty brands to more than half a billion consumers on
Alibaba’s platforms in China.
The new Boots flagship Tmall Global store gives Chinese
consumers access to some of the most popular Boots beauty brands in
the UK and the U.S., initially No7, Soap & Glory and Boots
Cucumber, reflecting the Chinese consumers’ increasing
sophistication and appetite for high-quality, international beauty
brands.
Alibaba’s Tmall Global platform is China’s largest B2C
marketplace for both Chinese and international brands and
retailers, providing a premium shopping experience for China’s
consumers. Launched in 2014, Tmall Global is Alibaba’s dedicated
channel for cross-border e-commerce. It is one of the largest and
most comprehensive cross-border B2C online marketplaces, and allows
brands and retailers without operations in China to build virtual
storefronts and ship products into the country.
Ken Murphy, Executive Vice President, WBA and Chief Commercial
Officer and President of Global Brands, said: “We are truly excited
to be launching our online flagship store in China exclusively on
Tmall Global. This is a great opportunity for us to increase the
internationalization of our products and to utilize the many
innovative technologies that Alibaba has developed. At the same
time, our collaboration with Tmall Global complements our presence
in wholesale and retail pharmacy in China with a new, fantastic
channel, through which we can distribute our beauty brands in a
market with almost endless possibilities. Today’s announcement is
the first step on a path we believe offers both of us incredible
potential for the future.”
“We are thrilled to be partnering with Walgreens Boots Alliance
as they continue to build their brands in China, engage a new
audience and meet the evolving lifestyle demands of the Chinese
consumer,” said Michael Evans, President of Alibaba Group. “We look
forward to building on the relationship with WBA to continuously
expand the range of product selection to better serve the more than
half a billion consumers on our marketplaces looking for quality
international beauty and cosmetics product.”
The beauty and cosmetics sector in China has been registering
impressive growth rates. Data from Euromonitor reveals that total
retail sales of skincare products and make-up products in China
reached RMB186.7 billion and RMB34.4 billion (or $27.26 billion and
$5.02 billion*), respectively, in 2017, achieving year-on-year
growth of more than 10% and 21%. More broadly, online retail sales
in China passed the $1 trillion mark for the first time in 2017,
making China the world’s leading e-commerce market**.
*Exchange rate as of September 13, 2018
** China Ministry of Commerce, digitalcommerce360.com
Notes to Editors:
About Walgreens Boots Alliance
Walgreens Boots Alliance (Nasdaq: WBA) is the first global
pharmacy-led, health and wellbeing enterprise. The company's
heritage of trusted health care services through community pharmacy
care and pharmaceutical wholesaling dates back more than 100
years.
Walgreens Boots Alliance is the largest retail pharmacy, health
and daily living destination across the U.S. and Europe. Walgreens
Boots Alliance and the companies in which it has equity method
investments together have a presence in more than 25* countries and
employ more than 385,000* people. The company is a global leader in
pharmacy-led, health and wellbeing retail and, together with the
companies in which it has equity method investments, has
approximately 14,500** stores in 11* countries as well as one of
the largest global pharmaceutical wholesale and distribution
networks, with more than 390* distribution centers delivering to
more than 230,000*** pharmacies, doctors, health centers and
hospitals each year in more than 20* countries. In addition,
Walgreens Boots Alliance is one of the world’s largest purchasers
of prescription drugs and many other health and wellbeing
products.
The company’s portfolio of retail and business brands includes
Walgreens, Duane Reade, Boots and Alliance Healthcare, as well as
increasingly global health and beauty product brands, such as No7,
Soap & Glory, Liz Earle, Sleek MakeUP and Botanics.
More company information is available at www.walgreensbootsalliance.com.
* As of August 31, 2017, using publicly available information
for AmerisourceBergen.
** As of June 28, 2018.
*** For 12 months ending August 31, 2017, using publicly
available information for AmerisourceBergen.
(WBA-GEN)
About Alibaba Group
Alibaba Group’s mission is to make it easy to do business
anywhere. The company aims to build the future infrastructure of
commerce. It envisions that its customers will meet, work and live
at Alibaba, and that it will be a company that lasts at least 102
years.
WBA Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements
All statements in this release that are not historical
statements are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe
harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995. Such statements include, but are not limited to,
statements regarding Walgreens Boots Alliance’s collaboration with
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s Tmall Global platform and the possible
effects thereof, consumer demand in China for international beauty
brands and Boots beauty products, the potential expansion over time
in the Boots beauty products available via Tmall Global, beauty and
cosmetics sector growth in China and online retail sales growth and
expansion in China. All statements in the future tense and all
statements accompanied by words such as such as “expect,”
“pending,” “potential”, “likely,” “preliminary,” “would,” “could,”
“should,” “can,” “will,” “project,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,”
“seek,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “may,” “possible,” “assume,” and
variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to
identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking
statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject
to risks, uncertainties and assumptions, known or unknown, which
could cause actual results to vary materially from those indicated
or anticipated. Such risks include, but are not limited to, risks
associated with new business ventures generally and with Walgreens
Boots Alliance’s collaboration with Tmall Global, risks associated
with international business operations, risks related to market
acceptance of and consumer demand for Boots beauty products China,
the ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the Tmall Global
collaboration, the outcome of legal and regulatory matters, the
risk of unexpected costs, liabilities or delays, changes in
management’s assumptions, and risks associated with changes in
laws, regulations or interpretations thereof. These and other
risks, assumptions and uncertainties are described in Item 1A (Risk
Factors) of Walgreens Boots Alliance’s Annual Report on Form 10-K
for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2017 and Quarterly Report
on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended November 30, 2017, each
of which is incorporated herein by reference, and in other
documents that Walgreens Boots Alliance files or furnishes with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these
risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying
assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially
from those indicated or anticipated by such forward-looking
statements. Accordingly, you are cautioned not to place undue
reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as
of the date they are made. Except to the extent required by law,
Walgreens Boots Alliance does not undertake, and expressly
disclaims, any duty or obligation to update publicly any
forward-looking statement after the date of this release, whether
as a result of new information, future events, changes in
assumptions or otherwise.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180920005113/en/
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc.Media RelationsUSA / Brian
Faith, +1 847 527 2210International / Nicholas Mandalas, +44 (0)20
7138 1136orInvestor RelationsGerald Gradwell and Ashish
Kohli, +1 847 315 2922orMedia contactAlibaba GroupMaja
Hauke, +44 (0) 20 7 3958330maja.hauke@alibaba-inc.com
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